Others are equally concerned about the dearth of bees and other pollinators threatening our food production.

At the same time, the state Department of Environmental Protection has been inundated this summer with complaints about the explosion of the annoying blackfly, while many a home gardener has been cursing the lace bug lately for browning their beloved azaleas.

We like it when those pretty little skippers flit around the flowers but can't stand to watch Japanese beetles chew the same.

It's a gardener's dilemma.

Can't we have it both ways... welcome the "good" while keeping a lid on the "bad?"

Yes. Or at least maybe. Here's a 10-point game plan to a "friendlier" way to deal with yard-bug problems:

1.) Plant bug-resistant plants. This is by far your best bet.

View full sizeHemlocks are prone to attack by hemlock woolly adelgids.George Weigel

Relatively few landscape plants run into serious insect problems, so if you steer clear of those (spider mites on dwarf Alberta spruce, scale on euonymus, adelgids on hemlock, for example), you can virtually plant-select your way out of spraying.

Then knock off spraying as much as possible. Spraying kills the predators along with the pests and puts you in the control seat since pests typically return first. (Without that pest-bug food supply there first, predators would starve.)

3.) Let you work for you. Follow pest-discouraging practices in your yard care.

Pick up bug-infested fallen leaves at the end of the season to get rid of overwintering eggs.

And above all, keep your plants as healthy as possible. It's typically stressed plants that pests go after first. That means improve your lousy soil before planting, get plants in the site where they're ideally suited, keep them watered in dry weather, and test every now and then to be sure the soil nutrition is optimal.

4.) Separate the cosmetic from the real trouble. A majority of bug issues are temporary and cosmetic. The plants grow through the damage, and go on to bloom another day.

View full sizeHoles in a few plants leaves are usually temporary and cosmetic.George Weigel

Relative few bugs threaten to kill plants if you don't act. Identify your problem, and decide whether it's merely a passing leaf-chewing matter that you can ignore or something more harmful in need of action.

And Rescue has a new line of hanging sticky traps that flies and stinging bugs apparently find curious visually.

7.) Mechanical controls. These work best on bigger bugs and involve, as the police would say, "physical assault on your person."

There's no more effective or "organic" way to eliminate Japanese beetles than to squish them one by one or to hand-pick them and drop them in a jar of soapy water.

Bagworms – those wormy things inside the cone-shaped sacs on many an evergreen – can be controlled by picking them and stomping them.

June beetles can be swatted with a tennis racket (good exercise also).

An early borer attack of a tree can be stopped by unfurling a paper clip and poking the larvae to death before he/she gets too far inside.

And vacuum cleaners can be employed to suck smaller bugs off of plants.

8.) Use nature against itself. Also called "biocontrol," this approach employs bacteria, fungi, nematodes and similar "friendly" organisms that naturally prey on or kill pests.

Best known is Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), the bacterium that's used to control blackflies, gypsy moths and other caterpillars. It's fairly targeted against caterpillars, but keep in mind, butterflies and moths are caterpillars before they become butterflies and moths.

Milky spore is another fairly well known biopesticide (a bacterium) that's marketed as a control for grubs in the lawn.

Microscopic nematodes are microorganisms that also prey on beetle grubs as well as bagworms.

And spinosyn (Spinosad) is one of several recent bacteria products that can control a variety of pest insects (caterpillars, spider mites and sawflies, for example).

9.) "Soft" pesticides. These are bug-killers that generally kill by smothering, repelling or eroding exoskeletons as opposed to poisoning bugs.

The good side is that these do little to no collateral damage. You pretty much have to hit the bug with them or have one come along before the spray dries.

The down side is that you have to time the sprays more efficiently and apply them more often, both of which tend to frustrate gardeners.

10.) Judicious use of the "big guns." If all else fails, numerous conventional insecticides are available to clean up unacceptable outbreaks.

If you must use these, avoid the spray-everything-just-in-case approach. Limit sprays to what's being mercilessly attacked despite softer approaches. And use them as little as possible to achieve acceptable control.

Check the labels for toxicity ("Caution" means less acutely toxic than "Warning" or "Danger"), and always follow label directions. More is not better.

Also, "organic" or "natural" doesn't mean safe. Some natural products test out more toxic than some synthetic chemicals. The Extension Toxicology Network is one source to gauge toxicity of gardening products.